German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s support for Nord Stream 2 will tarnish US-German relations for years to come, Bloomberg columnist Andreas Kluth writes
“By stubbornly supporting the construction of the Russian pipeline, Angela Merkel has failed the US and Europe – and left her successor with only bad options”, – the US analyst writes.
Merkel will meet with US President Joe Biden a few months before she leaves the post of German Chancellor. Bloomberg notes that the event should demonstrate “a return to transatlantic harmony after four years of acrimony under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump”.
“Both Merkel and Biden opposed Trump in different ways, not least in that they represented multilateralism and cooperation. Biden and his team therefore hoped for more support from Merkel, especially in confronting what Americans call the ‘autocratic antagonists of the democratic West’: China and Russia”, – Kluth notes.
In his view, Merkel has “twice shown contempt for Biden”. The first insult came in December, just weeks before Biden was due to be sworn in, when she pushed the China-EU investment deal to the next stage – without even consulting Biden’s team. Instead of helping Washington to rein in Beijing, Merkel wants Europe to keep its options open.
“The second and more serious insult has been her refusal to concede even slightly to demands supported by both US parties for the controversial [“Nord Stream 2″] pipeline being built from Russia to Germany. Completion of the project would double the amount of gas Russia could export directly through the Baltic Sea to northwest Europe”, – Bloomberg stressed.
According to the publication’s expert, Merkel’s reluctance to abandon the project “will be a burden” for her successor as Chancellor of Germany, and will also lead to “alienation between the US and European partners” and issues concerning Nord Stream 2 will cloud US-German relations for many years.